CLOUD BLOCK STORAGE
CONSISTENT AND RELIABLE STORAGE PERFORMANCE IN THE
CLOUD
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Rackspace Cloud Block Storage provides external block-level storage volumes that supplement the storage built into Rackspace Cloud Servers™. This cost-effective storage option offers reliable and high speed input-output of data, on a choice of standard volumes or Solid State Drives (SSD).
Customer can scale Cloud Block Storage volumes independently of the Cloud Servers to which they are attached – providing the flexibility to provision the desired quantity of storage required to run applications on the cloud. Volume sizes start at 100GB, and can scale up to a maximum of 1TB each.
The block storage volume can also be detached from one server and attached to another. In the event of server deletion, Cloud Block Storage helps to mitigate against data loss, as the Cloud Block Storage volume is external and stored independently of the Cloud Server. Our renowned price transparency extends to Cloud Block Storage, where you’ll only ever pay for the amount of storage you provision. We don’t charge for IO operations, which makes forecasting your monthly spend much easier.
Cloud Block Storage volumes are billed by the GB, so you only ever pay for what you need. Volume sizes start at 100GB, up to a maximum individual volume size of 1TB.
Product Features and Benefits
Multiple Cloud Block Storage volumes, up to a maximum of 14TB per server can be mounted onto individual Cloud Servers. However, Cloud Block Storage volumes cannot be
concurrently mounted to multiple Cloud Servers. Cloud Block Storage Options
Rackspace Cloud Block Storage offers two volume-based block storage options, Standard Volumes and SSD Volumes.
Standard Volumes
Uses standard hard drives to provide scalable storage that is ideal for regular file storage requirements. Standard volumes are best suited for web content, file archives or to extend the storage of Cloud Servers.
SSD Volumes
SSD volumes are ideal for higher input-output performance and low latency requirements requiring superior performance, for example highly transactional databases.
FEATURE BENEFIT
Data integrity
Mitigate risk of data loss if a Cloud Server fails by separating data storage away from the compute function of the server.
Abstraction of data from compute function gives a level of redundancy and protection from hardware failure.
Back up
Create snapshot backups of stored data to Cloud Files quickly and easily. Create new storage volumes from a snapshot that allows another compute instance to run against a copy of that data.
Cost-effective protection of valuable data enables fast duplication of data if required.
Control costs
Maintain control over costs and data by moving data to Block Storage volumes, and terminating Cloud Servers that are not in use and resume them when needed. Preserve the integrity of the stored data via a separate Block Storage volume. Customers are not charged for input-output operations, which makes it easy to forecast monthly spends.
Simple pay-as-you-go pricing and
predictable costs makes accounting easier. No hidden charges means customers stay in full control of their budgets.
Scalability
Expand cloud server storage without needing
Add the storage that you require, starting from 100GB, without being forced to
FEATURE BENEFIT
to upgrade the cloud server. upgrade to the next size of Cloud Server. Superior performance
Using high speed SSD volumes, performance-hungry database applications such as MS SQL, Oracle or NoSQL applications including MongoDB or Cassandra can be deployed.
Cost-effective hosting of high-performance storage enables greater business
efficiencies.
Cloud Control Panel and API
Customers can manage Cloud Block Storage either through the Cloud Control Panel or the RESTful API, a web-based standard for API’s where they can:
Create volumes of block-level storage from within the Cloud Control Panel or through the API
Utilise high-performance SSD-based storage, or standard SATA disk-based storage depending upon requirements
Attach and detach Block Storage volumes starting from 100GB minimum size, up to a maximum individual volume size of 1024GB to Cloud Servers, to enable storage expansion without upgrading the Cloud Server
Move volumes from one Cloud Server to another for easy migration of data Once the volumes are created, snapshot backups can be taken from the control
panel and used as templates to create new Cloud Block Storage volumes
The volumes and snapshot backups can be easily deleted when they are no longer required
View http://docs.rackspace.com for details of the Cloud Block Storage API including a ‘Getting Started’ Guide.
Geographic Availability
The Cloud Block Storage service is offered from the following Rackspace data centres: UK – London
US – Dallas and Chicago Australia – Sydney Asia – Hong Kong
Rackspace Core Benefits
OpenStack Technology Platform
OpenStack is an open and scalable operating system for building public and private clouds. It offers an alternative to closed cloud environments, reducing the risks of lock-in associated with proprietary platforms. OpenStack delivers flexibility and choice through a highly engaged community of over 6,000 individuals and over 190 companies including Rackspace®, Dell, HP, IBM and Red Hat®.
Technical Expertise
We employ large numbers of Red Hat Certified Engineers and Microsoft Certified Professionals and Solutions Experts, as well as VMware Certified Professionals, certified CommVault administrators, Cisco certified network engineers, and Dell and EMC certified professionals. You can have confidence that our teams are experts in their field.
Fanatical Support
Rackspace expert technical and support teams are available 24/7/365 and empowered to help with issues large and small. No scripted answers or one-size-fits-all solutions – just the support you need, when you need it.
Scope of Support
Rackspace Cloud Block Storage is offered with both Managed and Infrastructure Service Levels:
Scope Of Support Infrastructure Service Level
Managed Service Level
Chat/ phone/ticket support available 24x7x365
Authentication
troubleshooting/verification
Knowledge centre with Getting Started guide
Basic guidance for API calls to be used based on user needs
Basic guidance for steps needed to set up and manage volumes via your Cloud Control Panel
Verify Cloud Block Storage infrastructure availability
Developer centre with API documentation
Verify/confirm volume details Assistance with instance provisioning Support for creating volumes Support for deleting volumes Guarantee
Rackspace guarantees that Cloud Block Storage service volumes will be available 99.9% of the time in a given monthly billing cycle.
Credits
Account credit will be calculated as a percentage of the last billed fee for the affected Cloud Block Storage service volume, or as a percentage of the fee for the current billing cycle, for the affected Cloud Block Storage service volume. Credits will be applied to the customer account at the end of the current billing cycle.
Unavailability
Unavailability refers to the occasions when:
The Rackspace Cloud Block Storage service returns a server error response to a valid user request during two or more consecutive 90 second intervals
Data stored on the Cloud Block Storage volumes becomes inaccessible to the applicable Cloud Server
Unavailability due to scheduled maintenance is excluded from the guarantee, and does not contribute towards unavailability calculations
